ENCOUNTERING GOD'S WORD
Edited by Philip Duce & Daniel Strange
Apollos. 219 pages
ISBN 0 85111 792 9
This is a book to help those considering studying the Bible in a formal, academic setting. It brings together several short papers by current evangelical scholars, who seek to assist the student face the challenge of getting as close as possible to the meaning of the text in Bible study, while at the same time dispelling any anxiety about engaging the mass of scholarly writings and studies from a non-evangelical viewpoint.
The book comprises 'four chapters' of varying lengths, which cover such topics as 'Beginning "Old" Testament Studies'. This deals with 'how' one should 'approach' reading the OT Scriptures; the historicity, authorship, reliability and moral value of such writings. With '"New" Testament studies', we find practical counsel relating to the importance of correct study of these writings and insight into Interpretation through various critical means. 'Encountering Biblical Interpretation' takes us into hermeneutics and seeks to find a framework for understanding the relationship between the writer, the original text and the reader, while 'The Function of Faith and Evidence in our trusting the Bible as God's Word' challenges us to consider the veracity of the Bible and the good reasons we have to trust it as the very Word of God.
